Bimota DB7 Oronero Superbike - Bimota's Black Mamba

Employing essentially the same suspension package as the DB7, the Oronero is sensitive and responsive to adjustment, which means a customer should be able to dial in a good setup to suit his or her riding style for any kind of road or track conditions. Once you do so, the result is a bike that has the same overall character as the Ducati 1098 it's related to engine-wise, but feels quite different in so many little ways. From the more comfortable riding position, to the deeper, more sonorous, exhaust note from the single Zard titanium-wrap silencer, to those benchmark brakes, to the very sweet gearchange that's somehow lighter and more positive than on a Bologna-built bike. This was especially noticeable changing up under hard acceleration, where you only close the throttle just a tiny amount to get a clean, crisp upshift that's almost as effective in maintaining drive as a wide-open powershifter. Andrea Acquaviva insists that a key ingredient in this is the optimum ECU mapping by Bimota's electronics wiz, Daniele Commandini.

The Oronero DB7 isn't just mouth-watering to look at. It feels light and agile, flicking from side to side much easier than any desmo V-twin yet made, and it accelerates like a scalded cat in the lower gears, thanks to that combination of reduced weight and the fat midrange performance. It's an extremely satisfying motorcycle to ride in something approaching anger, and it already sets a new benchmark for desmo V-twin streetbikes that's likely to be advanced still further when the GET electronics package is dialed in and installed, bringing the benefits of traction control, active suspension and GPS technology along with it, among others.

The creation of the DB7 Oronero-and the fact that so many of the bikes built have already found homes-confirms that after a lost decade of near-oblivion, Bimota is now headed back to where it belongs.